Court orders arrest of three teachers in Marawi City

COTABATO CITY --- A local court has ordered the arrest of three teachers in Marawi City for having been appointed to permanent teaching positions despite lack of qualification.The warrant for the arrest of Asmera Cacatanong, Asleah Pendatun Macatanong, Potre Sarah Mama Macatanong was issued by Judge Christina Hawtay-Jovero of the city court here on May 29.Copies of the warrant were made public only on Saturday.Sources from the regional office of the Department of Education in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (DepEd-ARMM) told reporters on Saturday that copies of the warrant had been forwarded to the police for enforcement.The three employees of DepEd-ARMM’s division office in Marawi City are respondents to a case filed by John Magno, regional education secretary of the autonomous region, for violation of Republic Act 7836.The RA 7836, also known as the Philippine Teachers Professionalization Act of 1994, prohibits the enlistment to government schools of teachers without licenses.Magno said investigators have discovered that the three respondents are not licensed teachers but got appointed still to permanent teaching positions in Marawi City by a predecessor of the region’s incumbent chief executive, Gov. Mujiv Hataman.DepEd-ARMM officials told reporters on Saturday that their appointments were reportedly facilitated by the now retired Marawi City schools division superintendent Mona Macatanong, who also hit the news for defying orders for her to retire from work in 2015 after reaching mandatory retirement age.She argued in court that she was younger than the age she had stated in the personal data sheet she filed out when she applied for a government teaching position three decades before.